This Wednesday: Modern Worship Collective @ 6:30 pm

Greetings!

I am so grateful to be worshiping with you this Sunday and thankful for the opportunity to be part of your PRIDE celebration. As we prepare to gather together, I’m mindful of how often the world tries to tell us who we are. It hands us labels we never asked for, sets limits we never agreed to, and tries to define the boundaries of our belonging. But long before anyone else spoke a word over us, God already knew us, deeply and joyfully. In the book of Jeremiah, we hear the prophet’s story of being called, claimed, and sent even before he was born. That same God is still speaking, reminding us that we are wonderfully made and powerfully called to speak love and truth into the world. Together, we will explore what it means to trust that calling, live into it boldly, and see ourselves the way God sees us: beloved, chosen, and more than enough.

Peace, 

James

Please join us immediately following the Sunday service for our Coffee Hour (in-person in Trinity Court or online via Zoom).

bit.ly/SVPCCoffeeHour

Theme for Sunday

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

Audre Lorde

Questions for Reflection

• God says, “Before I created you in the womb, I knew you.” For many in the queer community, the world has tried to deny or erase parts of who we are. How does it change your sense of identity to imagine that every part of you — your gender, your sexuality, your way of being in the world — was already known, loved, and celebrated by God before anyone else had an opinion?

• Jeremiah worries that his voice will not be heard or taken seriously. Many queer voices have been silenced or dismissed in faith spaces. What helps you trust that your voice, your story, and your truth are sacred, and that God’s Spirit will give you the words you need? 

• Pride is both celebration and resistance; joy in who we are and courage to speak truth against systems that harm us. Where might God be calling you to live and speak more boldly, not only for your own liberation but for the liberation of others in the queer community?

Jeremiah 1:4-10 CEB

The Lord’s word came to me:

“Before I created you in the womb I knew you;

before you were born I set you apart;

I made you a prophet to the nations.”

“Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak

because I’m only a child.”

The Lord responded,

“Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’

Where I send you, you must go;

what I tell you, you must say.

Don’t be afraid of them,

because I’m with you to rescue you,”

declares the Lord.

Then the Lord stretched out his hand,

touched my mouth, and said to me,

“I’m putting my words in your mouth.

This very day I appoint you over nations and empires,

to dig up and pull down,

to destroy and demolish,

to build and plant.”